Ho, Ho, Hoppin'

Isaac's awesome 2nd grade teacher did Christmas around the world everyday the last week of school. The 2nd graders pretended to visit each of these places on the "Polar Express." So on Friday to wrap up their week they were invited to wear their pajamas and watch the movie. Mike, Riley and I went to have lunch with him in the classroom. It was a fun surprise for him and Riley thinks Isaac's school is amazing.

Isaac isn't the only kid with a social calender around our house either. For the week of the hip surgery and continuing one day a week since Riley has been going to daycare. I got really lucky and my friend (and Riley's best friend's Mommy) started a daycare. Riley already considered their house her second home and the two other one year old there most of the week are her friends. The first day Riley spent there I got a beautiful photo college of her first day with pictures of her finger painting, having snack and playing. It was a major adjustment after having her with me all day everyday especially through my last recovery.

I'm sure people without kids will roll their eyes at this admission after all it was one full week and than one day a week without my baby, but I cried alot at first. I'm so glad that I had her all the time as long as I did, but healing is serious business. Now that's she's been going for awhile I see all the benefits not just for me, but for her too. She learns so much being around other kids her own age, her manners are much better, she doesn't have to have Mommy to go down for a nap and she's happy to get out of the house on her own.

After the lunch at Isaac's school Riley and I went to her daycare to help prepare for their holiday party the following Monday. We made baby hand print wreaths for all the babies to give their parents as Christmas gifts. We made reindeer using a foot print as the face and a hand for each antler and even did a picture ornament for each parent to take home. Besides my undying love of arts and crafts it was an amazing day because I had purpose again. I was volunteering like my old self. I felt like a mom again instead of some lump on the couch for the first time in months.

I was inspired to take on a holiday project of my own, a gingerbread house. I printed a pattern from the Internet and made the dough from mix, but I still failed. My first batch I followed the cake directions instead of cookies by accident and the consistency was wrong. So we ate the gingerbread cake and tried again. The second time the dough was fine we cut all the pieces from the pattern and baked them, but the frosting wasn't gluey enough. I didn't realize it mattered so much and just bought generic decorating icing, but you really need royal icing the eggy consistency makes it stickier. Attempt number three made it farther than the other two, but once we got two walls to stand the other two would fall. In the end I declared "I'm a bake not an architect" and ate all the candy I bought to decorate with.

I did all of my shopping online this year because I'm not up to shopping in general let alone during the holidays. Mostly on Amazon and Ebay. Online shopping may eliminate driving parking and fighting crowds, but lacks the instant gratification and comes with shipping anxiety. I ordered something the day after Thanksgiving (11/26) and it's shipping window closed the 13th, but it hadn't arrived by the 18th. I emailed them twice and still nothing. After I asked them to cancel my order and refund me it showed up the next day.

Wrapping was a real trick this year. Go ahead wrap something especially a big box without bending your spine. Tricky stuff. I would wrap a few things and be in too much pain to do much for a few days and then start again. But it all got done somehow.

Tell Santa we're ready.

A Visit With Mr. Claus

Riley and her best friend visiting Santa 12/8/10

Lots to do...having been discharged a few days before Thanksgiving and successfully hosting the feast it was a high speed down hill race through a calender full of events.

The starting line of which being the Jingle Bell Run and our annual visit to Santa.

We all had some nice hot chilli, which perfect for such a cold drizzly night, in the company of friends. We got the babies dressed in their holiday outfits including sparkly Santa hats. Gave everyone a set of jingle bells and headed that way, late. By the time we got there they were shutting the line to see Santa down, but being one of his personal friends I was confident he'd see us. Which of course he did.

Last year Riley, 3mo old, had gazed at Santa with such affection. Not this year. She wailed from the moment we got near him even before I put her on his lap. The babies seemed to have a agreed we'd have no smiling picture with Santa this year. It's understandably intimidating to meet the man himself. Santa was very understanding.

Once the girls were seated in the wagon with their bells and best of all candy canes all was right with the world again. Smiley little elves ringing in December.

On a much less important note we missed the race entirely and were bound for home and bed without even picking up our shirts this year, but priorities...We saw Santa!